MCC leads Mass. community colleges in six-figure salaries

LOWELL -- The number of Middlesex Community College employees taking home more than $100,000 annually has increased sharply since 2010, giving the school the most six-figure earners at any of the state's 15 community colleges.

Out of the 8,682 workers on the community college system payroll, 194 are projected to earn more than $100,000 in 2013 and 23 are employed by Middlesex.

Three years ago, MCC's $38.6 million payroll was topped by 13 six-figure salaries. Ten others have also joined their ranks.

Salary increases at the school are based largely on the state of the overall economy, said MCC Human Resources Director Gary McPhee.

For nonunion employees, which McPhee said make up roughly one-third of the school's staff, annual salary increases must be authorized by state Commissioner of Higher Education Richard Freeland.

"There was a period of about four years, up until two years ago, where there were no increases for nonunion employees at the college because of the economy," McPhee said. "The last two years have been modest.

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Middlesex president Carole Cowan, the highest-paid community college employee statewide, saw her earnings swell from $220,458 in 2010 to an annual rate of $252,441 set for this year, an increase of 14.5 percent.

Close behind Cowan in the overall community college system payroll, a list of 8,681 names, is Mount Wachusett Community College President Daniel Asquino. Asquino is projected to earn $248,153 in 2013, up 6 percent from his $233,908 in 2010.

The 80 full-time professors at Middlesex make an average of $66,187, about $1,048 below the systemwide average.

McPhee said the salaries paid to professors and other union workers at Middlesex fall within a range of rates set by a collective bargaining agreement valid across all the community colleges, with factors like education and experience bumping workers up along the scale.

"Whether we're talking about professors at Middlesex Community College or Greenfield Community College or Springfield Technical Community College, there's a range, a minimum and a maximum for faculty," McPhee said. "And when they come in, there's a very structured database that they're put into."

The average salary for a dean at Middlesex is $106,452, almost $9,000 above the state community college average of $97,736. Twenty-one Middlesex employees are categorized as deans, nine of whom make more than $100,000. The next highest number of deans is 13 at Bristol Community College.

McPhee said that although the salary-determining method is "not quite as structured for deans and administrators" as it is for professors, there is still a prescribed salary range. Percentage increases within that range are based on experience and other qualifications.

The cost to attend Middlesex has grown faster than salaries in recent years. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in-state tuition and fees have jumped nearly 10 percent since 2010, up from $3,980 to $4,274. This falls below the systemwide average increase of 12 percent.

The $2.8 million payroll increase at Middlesex from 2010 to 2012 -- a 7 percent jump -- was smaller than the spikes at similarly sized schools.

Middlesex, with 9,840 students, is the state's second-largest community college. At $41,424,549, its 2012 payroll was also the second highest in the system, having risen $2.8 million from 2010.

Bunker Hill Community College, with campuses in Charlestown and Chelsea, has 12,943 students and paid its workers a total of $41,726,438 in 2012, an increase of 17 percent from 2010.

Worcester's Quinsigamond Community College, with 9,130 students, cut a total 2012 payroll of $37,100,450, up 12 percent from 2010.

Each of the three largest community colleges has a graduation rate of below the system average of 16 percent. Middlesex's is 13 percent, while Bunker Hill's is 9 percent and Quinsigamond's is 14 percent.

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